Apparatus for ripping or tearing raw tobacco leaves into pieces



Sept. 2, 194 0. E. EISSMANN PIECES APPARATUS FOR RIPPING OR TEARING RAWTOBACCO LEAVES INTO Filed July 1, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.Quad/(Z Z. 5212177207272 BY W Sept. 2, 1941.

APPARATUS FOR RIPPING 0R TEARING RAW TOBACCO LEAVES INTO PIECES FiledJuly '1, 1939 p2 Sheets-Sheet 2 r INVENTOR; Y flfwa/QQZQZ' fl'iizalzizBY 4 M ATTORNEY.

' o. E. EISSMANN I 2,254,776 v Patented Sept. 2, 1941 APPARATUS FORRIPPING, OR TEARIN G RAW TOBACCO LEAVES INTO PIECES Oswald E. Eissmann,

J. C. Muller, Inc., tion 01' Virginia Brook Hill, Va., assignor toRichmond, va., a corpora- Application July 1, 1939, Serial No. 282,335 9Claims. (Cl. 131-146) This invention relates to an apparatus for rippingor tearing raw tobacco leaves into pieces, and more particularlyprovides improvements over the structure shown. in the former Patent No.2,127,329 of August 16, 1938. I 5 merely as an example;

In contrast to the former structure, the present Figure 5 is a plan viewof a leaf of tobacco structure causes the leaves as they are rippedshowing the manner in which parts thereof are to be divided into twodivergent paths, one a successively torn away; lower path as heretofore,and one an upper path. Figure 6 is a cross section of a stem showing Byso dividing the paths of operation, a better 10 how the parts of theleaf that remain after some sized leaf is obtained, the end productbeing of parts have been ripped are bent in one direcmore uniform sizeand with less fine tobacco. tion in respect to the stem bythe operation01' Furthermore, the invention .also has in mind the lower looseningmember; and the subjection of the tobacco-to a periodic inter Figure 7is a s ar section showing how the mittent feeding instead of having suchfeeding parts of theleaf are bent in the opposite direc-.

continuous.

This invention consists raw tobacco leaves are tobacco flakes as largeas possible without any stem pieces on them and also producing entirelyof a machine into which 'clean stems. The stems with adhering tobacco donot have to run through the machine again several times, until the,stems are clean, and this, of course, is a disadvantage, as every 7tobacco pieces more and make smaller sized flakes. For this purpose, themachine operates as heretofore, sometimes run will tear the. adhering todivide the tobacco into two paths, each in a different direction, and tohave the loosening the combs and. teeth put and shredded into plan viewof a loosening member, showing the dis- Figure 4 is a partial member anda cleaning position of thecombs tion in respect to the stem, due to theoperation of the upper loosening member.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughoutthe various views. Referring to the drawings, and more particularly toFigure 1, a substantially horizontal platform 2a is provided over whicha feed belt 2,

. passing over direction of is moved in the rotation of the arrow Ia.Su-

pulleys 2b and 2c, the arrow I, the pulley 20 being indicated by theperimposed pulleys 4 rections of the arrows 4a and 5a and supported uponshafts 4b and 5b, serveto grip the tobacco leaves and feed themforwardly. Disposed bemembers unsurroun-ded by any plate. The totweenthe conveyor roll 20 and the lower roll 5 bacco is acted upon inopposite directions. The is a bridge 3 which receives the tobacco leavesspeed of the cleaning devices is higher than that L fed by the conveyor2. At the other side of the of th loosening d vi superimposed rolls '4and 5 there is another bridge The invention further consists of meansfor marked 6, substantially likethe bridge 3, to re- 7 intermittentlyfeeding the tobacco to the maceive the tobacco moved forward by therolls4 chine so that the ripping action takes place only and 5 and to supportthe tobacco as upon n upon those parts which have been fed into theanvil when loosening members andv 9 go into machine, and, the operationof ripping is subaction, during which time the" tobacco is stillstantially completed, before the feeding again held by the compressionof the :rolls 4 and 5. t k place i Both of these bridges 3 and 6 have anupper The invention will be more fully described surface substantiallystraight and horizontal and hereinafter, embodiments thereof will beshown h ve each downwardly conver in surfaces of in the drawings, andthe invention will be curved shape corresponding substantially withfinally set forth in the claims. I the curvature of the roller 20', theroller 5 and in In the accompanying drawings: general ,to the path ormovement of the combs Figure 1 is a side view of the structure "emll) ofthe oos ng member 9. bodying my invention; The loosening member 8rotates in the direc- Figure 2 is a diagrammaticdrawingshowing tion ofthe arrow 8a, and the loosening member the mechanism used to set thestructure shown 9 rotates in the direction of the arrow So, that inFigure 1 in operation, with the possibility of is, in oppositedirection. A guide wall 30 is supfeeding the tobacco intermittently orperiodi ported by the casing 3|, which guide wall in the. Cally; v eventof any tobacco parts being thrown by the Figure 3 isa partial side viewof a loosening loosening member 8, serves to guide such parts member anda cleaning drum, with the comb and upon the bridge ,6, whereupon theyare again tooth laterally engaging each other; 5 subjected to the actionof the members 8 and 9.

and 5 rotating in the di- Another guide wall 38 is also secured to theupper part of the casing 3|, and this serves to guide any materialdownwardly to drum l I having combs I2, and this cleaning drum llrotates in the direction of the arrow Ila and is surrounded by a grateII having bars II and openings I! through which the ripped tobacco andcleaned stems fall. The grate II is suitably secured to the parallel endwalls 32 of the casing, and extends across the end walls. This is notshown in the drawings, but is known in the art. At one side of the pathof rotation of the loosening member 9, a guide wall It is arrangedhaving a curved upper portion 35 which extends between the path ofrotation of the loosening member 8, and the path of rotation of thecleaning drum 1 l, and the lower end of the grate it. A downwardlyextending part 3511 is inclined to the vertical, and extends close to agrate 20 surrounding a cleaning drum It in order to guide tobaccobetween the grate 20 and the drum It. The cleaning drum it rotates inthe direction of the arrow i811, and has combs H. The grate 20 hasopenings l8 and spaced bars [8 for the passage of the tobacco. For alike purpose, there is disposed at the other side of this cleaning druml8 another guide wall 86 substantially vertical and having an outwardlybent over portion 31 to receive any parts of tobacco which may fall downfrom the conveyor 2 or from the bridge I.

It is within the knowledge of a man skilled in the art to provide meansfor operating the devices shown in Figure 1. The various shafts aresupported in the parallel end walls 32 as known. A diagrammatic drawingof the transmission means is shown in Figure 2. A motor 40 has a beltIisetting in operation the drum shaft 43 over pulley 42. Upon the shaft43 is a pulley 44 having an endless belt 45 over pulley 46 mounted onstop shaft 41. and another pulley 48 on shaft 49, and passes over pulley50 on drum shaft SI. On shaft 49 is a spur gear meshing with gear 53 onshaft 54. A gear 55 on shaft 66 meshes with gears 52 and 81. Gear 81 onshaft 4b meshes with gear 68 on shaft b. Between this gear 68 and thegear It, a pinion 69 is placed which may be moved into mesh or out ofmesh of the gears 68 and I8. Gear I0 is mountedon shaft 12 which drivesthe feedin roll 20. When this pinion gear 68 is in mesh with the gears68 and 10, the feed is continuous. When the gear 89 is out of mesh, thefeeding of the conveyor belt 2 is interrupted. The other parts, however,carry on with their movement and strip the tobacco which is within thepath of operation of the parts of its leaf. and therea cleaning llhaving combs I2, while the lower loosening.

member 8 stripping the leaves at substantially right angles to thelatter but in an upward after when the gear 89 has been brought intomesh, a new supply of tobacco is provided by the conveyor 2. As beforestated, various means ay be provided'to operate these shafts. Instead ofthe pinion 69 any other device may be used within the knowledge of amechanic, such as a clutch or 9. Geneva.

An important point of the improvement, however, is that, on the onehand, the feeding of the leaves is intermittent if so desired; and, onthe other hand, the cleaning drums rotate three times faster than theloosening members. The loosening members and the cleaning drums run in aratio of 1 to 3.

It is also important as part of the improvement, to have an upper pathand a lower path for the ripping of the leaves. whereupon, clean ribs inone operation of the machine are provided with larger pieces.

In other words, the

direction and conveying the loosened parts to a lower cleaning drum l8having combs H.

The operation is as follows:

The tobacco leaves are fed in the directionof the arrow l on the feedbeltl. The tobacco so fed passes the bridge I and is forced 'into thebight of the compression feed rollers I and I. After passing throughthem. the tobacco leaves pass over the bridge 8, and its acute comer l.

and project therefrom entering into the bight of the paths of the combsID of the loosening members 8 and 8. The upper loosening member Irotates in one direction, anti-clockwise, and takes off part of thetobacco leaf at each side of the stem in sizes as the leaf stands overthe corner I of the bridge 6. .In Figure 5 a leaf is shown. The combs l0enter it along line A-A, as shown by the pierce holes 11. In order notto bend the stems with adhering leaf parts down too far, the center ofthe loosening member I is placed above the horizontal input line for theraw tobacco. Upon the downward movement of the combs In of the member 8,the parts 82 of the leaf not ripped off. are moved downwardly in respectto the stem 80, as shown in Figure 7. The second loosening member I withcombs ll rotates in the opposite direction from the loosening member 8,(in clockwise direction) and lifts the tobacco stems with adheringleaves. ripping off along line 3-3 when the machine is runningcontinuously, leaving parts 8| bent upwardly as shown in Figure 6. Theupwardly bent parts II are forced upwardly by the combs of the member 9.If the feed action is intermittent, then the parts 82 on the stem inadvance of line A-A are only acted upon, and no further leaf strippedoff. This alternate action of down and up, or up and down, as the casemay be. of the remaining parts, cleans them'from the stem. In otherwords, the part of the tobacco stem which stands over the outstandingcorner I of the bridge I will be well cleaned by actions in bothdirections. as the leaf stem always stays substantially horizontal.Thus, as the combs it of loosening member 8 force the remaining parts ofthe leaf down while taking the larger part of the tobacco flakes off,the combs I0 of the loosening member I will force the leaf upwardlyagain, and will take the rest of the adhering leaf off the stem, whiletaking off a fresh part of the progressively advancing ing memberpartake of an orbit or path of rotation, as shown in the dot-dashlines.tersect. The end 1 is substantially at the point of intersection, butoutside of the orbits. The axis of rotation of the member 8 is above theend I, and the axis of rotation of the member I in below the end 1.Neither loosening member has a curved plate. as heretofore used. Toprevent the tobacco from breaking up to a certain extent which is notwanted. after having been taken oi! the stems, the improvement alsoconsists in the omission of a curved plate heretofore used, below aloosening member, which plate stops the tobacco from dropping downvertically by gravity. As the tobacco is now free to fall by gravity. 0.tearing of the tobacco is avoided. since no curved plate is used.

These in-v Further, practice has shown that if very small bacco whichpractice shown makes a much tobacco flakes are wanted out of wholeleaves. a better product with more uniform size with less grate has tobe provided with small sized holes fine tobacco.

- or slots in order to obtain the required size. In A furtherimprovement consists in working the doing so, the whole shreddingchamber with a feed belt 2 periodically. Practice has shown that er.However, due to the fact that the teeth of clean the tobacco stemthoroughly before the the loosening member were always bringing newperiodic transportation again is set into working.

chamber became crowded with tobacco. All 013 0 of treatment: in thehigher speed oi the cleaning rubbed against each other in the chamberuntil the tobacco supply.

they were small enough to go through-the small I have described anembodiment of my invenholes in the grate. Asa result, the tobacco was 5tion, but it will be clear that changes may be not only shedded intosmall flakes, but much of I made within the principle of the inventiondethe tobacco was broken due to the fact that the scribed withoutdeparting from the scope of the whole chamber was too crowded, andbyrubbing subioined claims. I

against each other small flakes of tobacco were What I claim is: brokenwhich were already of the correct size but 1. An apparatus for ripping'ortearing raw did not have a chance to drop through the small tobaccoleaves into piece comprising a feed dewanted. It is known that thelarger the leaf comb acting at substantially right angles to the members8 and 9, each with combs l0,'splits the 40 separate paths.

opposite to the loosening member 8 and at a comb acting atsubstantiallyright angles to-the and then, force said flakes against grate l3 orpaths and means for rotating the cleaning deits bars I4 so that they candrop through the vices faster than the loosening devices.

openings IS without being rubbed against each 3. An apparatus forripping or tearing raw other. The second loosening member 9 with thetobacco leaves into pieces. comprising a feed deon the. outstanding stemover the-comer 1 of rotary loosening device below the first looseningcleaning drum I6 is also working with a higher the stripp d tobacco intotwo paths, ne pwardly second grate l8 with bars l9 or through the withthe second senin de ce and mov n opening 20. In other words, the wholeamount the strippedtobacco furtherin the lower path."

of tobacco'to be shredded is split-into two por- 4. An apparatus forripping or tearing raw tions and therefore each one 01' the shreddingtobaccoleaves into pieces, comprising a feed dechambers is not socrowded and the new invenvice, a first rotary loosening device, a secondtion makes a much better product of more unirotary loosening devicebelow the first loosening due to the two loosening members in the newcomb acting at substantially right angles to the invention, the quantityoi tobacco will be split, leaves fed by the feed device, said looseningwhich avoids a crowded separating chamber and devicesrotating inopposite directions and dividthereby avoids the rubbing together oi thetolog the stripped t acco into two paths, one upstripped tobacco warcllyand one downwardly, a rotary cleaning first loosening device tobaccoleaves into pieces, afpair of oppositely rotating loosening devicesforming a bight for the tobacco to be loosened and dividing the strippedupper path, a second cleaning device cooperating with the second.loosening device and moving the further in the lower path, and a gratehaving openingsfor the passage of the stems and stripped tobacco,partially surrounding each cleaning device.

5. An apparatus for ripping or tearing raw tobacco leaves into pieces,comprising a feed device, a first rotary loosening device, a secondrotary loosening device below the first loosenin device, both looseningdevices having combs, each comb acting at substantially right angles tothe leaves fed by the feed device, said loosening devices rotating inopposite directions and dividing the stripped tobacco into two paths,one upwardly and one downwardly, a rotary cleaning device cooperatingwith the first loosening device and moving the stripped tobacco furtherin the upper path, a second cleaning device cooperating with the secondloosening device and moving the stripped tobacco further in the lowerpath, a grate having openings for the passage of the stems and strippedtobacco, partially surrounding each cleaning device, and guide wallsapproxi- .-respective loosening devices to further mate each looseningand cleaning device for guiding the tobacco towards the same.

6. In an apparatus for ripping or tearing raw tobacco leaves intopieces, a pair of oppositely rotating loosening devices forming a bightfor the tobacco to be loosened and dividing the stripped tobacco intotwo paths, a pair of oppositely rotating cleaning devices, one for eachloosening device, said cleaning devices cooperating with the respectiveloosening devices to further advance said stripped tobacco in therespective paths; a feeding means for feeding tobacco to the bight ofthe loosening devices, and means for intermittently during thecontinuation of the operation of the loosening and cleaning devices.

7. In an apparatus for ripping or tearing raw operating the feedingmeans,

tobacco into two paths, a pair of oppositely rotating cleaning devices,one for each loolening device.

advance said stripped tobacco in the respective paths and a feedingsupport for the tobacco entering to the entrance bight of the looseningdevices having an edge at said entrance bight contiguous to the orbitsof the extreme edges of the cleaning devices to enable the tobaccoextending beyond the support and contiguous to said edge of the supportto be acted upon in opposite directions by the, loosening devices.

8. In an apparatus for ripping or tearing raw tobacco leaves intopieces, the combination of two oppositely rotating loosening members, alternately acting upon the tobacco, said loosening members dividing thestripped tobacco into two streams and bending the remaining part of theleaf in opposite directions in respect to thestem. and means feedingtobacco to such members.

9. In an apparatus for ripping or tearing raw tobacco leaves intopieces, the combination of a bridge having an upper horizontal surface.a

loosening member having combs with edges,.and having an axis of rotationabove said surface,

a second loosening member having combs with edges, and having an axis ofrotation below said surface, one end of the bridge being immediatelyoutside of the curved paths of the comb edges of the loosening members,and substantially at the point of intersection thereof, said end or thebridge cooperating with the comb edges of said first named looseningmember to form a stationary support for the tobacco fed therefrom intothe entrance bight formed by said curved paths of said looseningmembers, said bridge extending into said bight, save for contact withthe comb edges during their rotation.

OSWALD E. EISSMANN.

said cleaning devices cooperating with the.

